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donderdag 18 december 2008
BNP parabis still interested in fortis-deal.
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zondag 14 december 2008
EU clears BNP Paribas deal
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The EU approved the plan of BNP Paribas to buy the Belgian and Luxembourg banking arms of Fortis on Wednesday.
After BNP Paribas made the deal with the Belgian government to buy parts of Fortis, after the failure of an earlier attempt by the Belgian government to save Fortis, they became the largest holder of private savings in the euro area. At the same time the commission also cleared two statue rescues of Fortis.
To avoid a limited choice of credit card providers on the Belgian and Luxembourg markets and to comply with European antitrust laws BNP Paribas will have to sell off BNP Paribas Personal Finance Belgium in order to complete the Fortis deal.
Raf Van Bulck
Source: NRC Handelsblad
vrijdag 12 december 2008
Dismantling of Fortis has been suspended
The verdict is mainly due to Mischael Modrikamen, a lawyer, who represents 2,000 displeased shareholders. He, and his 2,000 shareholders, share the opinion that the decision made by the board of directors was illegal and must be prevented. In order to solve this problem, the judge has appointed 5 experts. It’s their job to examine the correctness of the sale/takeover and finally give an advice so the judge can make his final verdict.
Daan Van Parys
Standaard
zaterdag 6 december 2008
Triumph after outvoting Davignon
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More than 5,000 shareholders were present at the meeting in Brussels. Etienne Davignon was candidate to become president. Davignon is the man from the Belgium establishment and also a friend of Maurice Lippens, the former president of Fortis, who is held responsible for the downfall of Fortis.
For the approval of the new Board of Directors there had to be a consent in Utrecht as well as in Brussels. To legally compile the new Board, it has to count at least three members. Only two members got a majority, these are Louis-Cheung Chi Yan, representative of the Chinese bank insurer Ping An, and Karel De Boeck.
Source: De Morgen, Wednesday 3 December 2008.
Tine Van Landeghem
dinsdag 25 november 2008
Judge orders Fortis investigation
The VEB (an organisation that represents the small shareholders) who took the matter to court is pleased with the decision of the Dutch company court.
Although the decision was to be expected after the outcome of a similar Belgian case earlier this month, the trade of Fortis shares on the Amsterdam and Brussels stock exchanges was suspended during the trial
Raf Van Bulck
Source: De Tijd
donderdag 20 november 2008
Key moments in the Fortis crises
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17/10/2007: Fortis purchases ABN Ambro. This is the beginning of the end. The financing of this deal put the shares under a lot of pressure.
28/09/2008: The governments of
Source: De Standaard
Tine Van Landeghem
woensdag 19 november 2008
De Gucht accused of selling stocks with prior knowledge
The efforts of the government to save Fortis Holding are still causing problems. Not only are stockholders filing a complaint in order to cancel the takeover by BNP Paribas, politicians too are being criticised.
One politician in particular, K. De Gucht, is accused of giving 'sensitive' information during the negociations between the Belgian government and BNP Paribas, to his spouse, M. Schreurs. De Gucht allegedly would have told her to sell her stocks, which is regarded as an act with prior knowledge. Vlaams Belang filed a complaint against De Gucht and the CBFA as well is investigating this matter. De Gucht dennies all accusations and hopes that the court of law will do its job so there will be ‘clarity’ in this case.
Source: Tijd